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To my ears, the defining sound of the “late” British Invasion is a lead guitarist who seems like B.B. King. As I chronicled in King of the Blues, boatloads of B.B. King singles arrived in Britain beginning round 1964, inspiring a wave of newly minted guitar heroes, most of whom handed by means of the Yardbirds or John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in some unspecified time in the future.
Here, then, are a dozen traditional albums of the late British Invasion. We’ll begin in 1966, after the primary wave of hits by the Beatles and Stones, Kinks and Who. We’ll skip later albums by these bands, overlooking such gems as Revolver, Beggars Banquet, The Who Sell Out and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society.
Instead, we’ll concentrate on artists who arrived late to the invasion, second-wave bands descended from first-wave bands, and a technology of British folkies who noticed A Hard Day’s Night, purchased electrical guitars, discovered B.B. King riffs, fashioned bands and landed report contracts.
Sunshine Superman – Donovan, 1966
Donovan emerged in 1964 as a teenaged British folkie, incomes unfair Dylan comparisons and scoring a big hit with “Catch the Wind” in 1965. Events moved rapidly again then: By the beginning of 1966, Donovan was enjoying electrical and recording with a full band. The end result was Sunshine Superman, a masterpiece of psychedelic folks rock. The title observe and “Season of the Witch” are deathless classics. “Guinevere” and “Legend of a Girl Child Linda” are little folks fairytales. “Ferris Wheel” and “The Fat Angel” are droning sitar exercises constructed round single chords, a mode few different artists may carry off.
Are You Experienced – the Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1967
Hendrix began out as a flashy R&B guitarist on the segregated chitlin’ circuit. I described his second act in my B.B. King bio: Hendrix “deconstructed the B.B. King guitar sound and reimagined it through a prism of lysergic acid and war.” To overcome inflexible segregation within the States, he fashioned a band in Britain and joined the Invasion, returning to America with an built-in group as arguably the primary rock-guitar celebrity. He is now usually considered rock’s best guitarist, and Are You Experienced ranks among the many style’s best debuts.
The Piper on the Gates of Dawn – Pink Floyd, 1967
Here’s an argument-starter: I believe Piper is the best Pink Floyd album. Loads in that judgment relies on how a lot Pink Floyd issues to you. For essentially the most ardent Floyd followers, The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here are canonical works, unsurpassed by any band. The first, transient incarnation of Pink Floyd was one thing else altogether: An eccentric, psychedelic space-rock combo led by Syd Barrett, the sensible, doomed psych-pop songwriter. Dark Side outlined a technology of ‘70s stoners. Piper launched a thousand bands within the post-punk ‘80s, indie-rock ‘90s and past.
Procol Harum – Procol Harum, 1967
It’s useful to think about Procol Harum as The Band of Britain, given the group’s two-keyboard lineup and instrumental virtuosity. Gary Brooker wrote on piano at a time when most of his friends have been writing on guitar, a big departure. “A Whiter Shade of Pale,” cruelly omitted from the U.Ok. launch, appeared like Bach and performed like church music, with a songwriting depth few different invaders may match. Throughout the report, Brooker and firm flirt with dance-hall, ecclesiastical and classical themes, anticipating progressive rock. The band’s third album, A Salty Dog, is simply nearly as good, however the debut is extra necessary.
Disraeli Gears – Cream, 1967
In hindsight, Disraeli Gears feels just like the excessive level not only for this celebrated energy trio however for the six-decade profession of Eric Clapton, save maybe for his Derek and the Dominos outing, a number of years later. Cream was a powder keg of dueling egos, however this album captures Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce in excellent concord, singing a brace of sensible psych-blues songs leavened with killer riffs. “Strange Brew,” “Sunshine of Your Love,” “World of Pain,” “Dance the Night Away” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses” are spellbinding acid tone poems. A joyous, lysergic pub crawl by means of Swinging London.
Odessey and Oracle – The Zombies, 1968
The Zombies will be the most underrated British Invasion band. The success of “She’s Not There” in 1964 technically put them on the vanguard of the Invasion. But the Zombies just about disappeared from the U.S. charts after a few large singles. They resurfaced in 1968 with one of many most interesting albums of the last decade. The songcraft on “Care of Cell 44” and “A Rose for Emily” and “Beechwood Park” locations the oddly spelled Odessey on a par with Procol Harum and Forever Changes and even, dare we are saying, Pet Sounds. The Zombies reaped an enormous postmortem hit with “Time of the Season,” a 12 months after their demise.
Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake – Small Faces, 1968
If the Small Faces hadn’t morphed into the less-small Faces with Rod Stewart as entrance man and conquered (or at the very least colonized) America, this act would be part of the Zombies on the Criminally Overlooked record. In its authentic incarnation, Small Faces was a gritty, soulful psychedelic pub-rock band fronted by one of the crucial gifted singers in Britain, the elfin-voiced Steve Marriott. The Small Faces had launched a number of albums and scored a transatlantic hit with “Itchycoo Park” earlier than they accomplished Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake, an acid-soaked idea album with a cool tobacco-tin sleeve.
Truth – Jeff Beck, 1968
Truth will be the best British blues-rock album, with apologies to Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. Jeff Beck stands right now because the third-most-famous guitarist to emerge from the Yardbirds, after Clapton and Page. Yet, he recorded a robust debut, a set of amped-up B.B. King and Muddy Waters covers that launched America to Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood. Their bombastic deconstruction of the Yardbirds single “Shapes of Things” anticipated onerous rock and steel, whereas “Beck’s Bolero” rolled out a lot of the group that will turn out to be Led Zeppelin. (See beneath.)
Traffic – Traffic, 1968
Steve Winwood turned twenty across the time the eponymous Traffic LP dropped, a exceptional reality, contemplating he had recorded a number of large hits with the Spencer Davis Group and launched a previous Traffic album earlier than Traffic, the album, hit the racks. It’s his most interesting achievement, and a career-capper for Dave Mason, a singer-songwriter who ducked out and in of Traffic and contributed a number of marvelous songs. Much just like the White Album and Abbey Road, Traffic resonates a seasoned maturity, a top quality that has served it effectively throughout the a long time. Every track ranks as a traditional.
Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin, 1969
The Rolling Stone overview of the Led Zep debut termed Jimmy Page “a very limited producer and a writer of weak, unimaginative songs,” directing shoppers to spend their cash as a substitute on Jeff Beck’s Truth. Led Zeppelin overcame their critics and adjusted the face of rock and roll with a run of masterful albums, their constant artistry all of the extra spectacular contemplating the band’s self-destructive bent. If you’ve gotten one way or the other failed to listen to them, begin right here.
In the Court of the Crimson King – King Crimson, 1969
It’s onerous to elucidate, half a century later, the affect of an album launched by a rock and roll group with sufficient instrumental prowess, improvisational wit and chordal complexity to impress the jazz group. That’s what Robert Fripp achieved with Crimson King, arguably the primary masterpiece of progressive rock. Fripp is a real genius of the guitar: For irrefutable proof, hearken to his work with Brian Eno and the primary facet of Red, a latter-day Crimson masterpiece. High hats off, too, to Michael Giles, one of many nice rock drummers. Spine-chilling stuff.
Liege & Lief – Fairport Convention, 1969
I’m enjoying historic revisionist by choosing this, the fourth Fairport LP, over the opposite two (!) long-players they launched in 1969, What We Did on Our Holidays and Unhalfbricking. Years in the past, critics fairly pretty hailed these earlier works because the most interesting folk-rock albums because the Byrds’ debut. Today, music writers focus extra on Liege because the report that established folks rock. The earlier albums showcase Richard Thompson’s rising chops as songwriter and guitarist and betray the affect of Jefferson Airplane and Joni Mitchell. Take your choose, however Liege & Lief most likely marks Fairport’s peak.
Daniel de Visé is a journalist, an occasional AllMusic contributor,4 and writer of King of the Blues: The Rise and Reign of B.B. King.
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